Worcestershire sauce ingredients for
barbecue recipes

By JOE
O'CONNELL, cbbqa past
President

Worcestershire Sauce is one of those
ingredients that are often used in barbecue but seldom understood by
cooks. Worcestershire Sauce, such as Lee & Perrins, is as
little understood as it is so often used. It did not exist at the
time of the Europeans "discovery" of barbecue or at the
founding of the United States, so it cannot be said to be an original
part of barbecue, at least in its commercial form as sold today.

What then is in Worcestershire Sauce, and how can barbecue cooks
attain the complex flavors without resorting to the commercial
product? In other words, what ingredients can cooks use as a
substitute for the commercial product when a recipe calls for
"Worcestershire Sauce".

This story will explore the history of the famous sauce and uncover
the secret ingredients and method of preparation that makes
Worcestershire Sauce more like a fine wine than an ordinary sauce.

Tamarind

What is now called “Worcestershire Sauce” owes its origin to
British imperialism and its colonization of India. Despite its
English-sounding name, Worcestershire sauce was originally an Indian
recipe. It was brought back to Britain in 1835 by Lord Marcus
Sandys, the ex-governor of Bengal. The sauce has as one of its basic
ingredients the Indian spice called tamarind.

Tamarind is a seed whose taste combines the sweet with the
sour. Traditional Worcestershire Sauce combines tamarind and soy
sauce, with a little cinnamon and cloves.

Anchovies

The first commercial Worcestershire Sauce was produced long after the Native
Americans taught Europeans about barbecue, and generations after the
American colonies made barbecue into a social event centered on whole
hog and vinegar based sauce.

One of its primary ingredients is the anchovy.
Anchovies are small fish, no more than 8" long, that have been
known from classical times to be uniquely susceptible to curing and
preserving, with a taste unlike that of any other fish. After the
Greeks and Romans popularized the tiny fish, they were enjoyed
throughout the world. Russians enjoyed them hot-smoked.
Chinese ate them dried. Thais beat them into pungent fish
sauce.

However, from the Elizabethans onward, the English perfected the use
of the anchovy in sauces. Throughout the 18th and 19th Centuries,
the anchovy fueled the English passion for bottled sauces, like Harvey's
(anchovies, pickled walnuts, soy, shallots and garlic), Pontac ketchup
(anchovies, elderberry juice, shallots and spices), and Burgess's
Anchovy Essence, which dates from 1760. The English breakfast
today still includes Gentleman's Relish, whose major ingredient is the
anchovy.

But it was Worcestershire Sauce, which was first mixed in 1838, which
remains the most popular sauce worldwide today. One of tts major
ingredient is the anchovy.

The history of Worcestershire Sauce

Worcestershire sauce itself is of cross-cultural origins. In 1835,
Lord Marcus Sandys, an ex-governor of Bengal, approached chemists John
Lea and William Perrins, whose prospering business in Broad Street,
Worcester, handled pharmaceutical's and toiletries as well as
groceries. He asked them to make up a sauce from a recipe which he
brought back from India. While his lordship was apparently
satisfied with the results, Messrs Lea and Perrins considered it to be
an "unpalatable, red-hot fire-water" and consigned the
quantity they had made for themselves to the cellars.

During the stocktaking/spring clean the following year, they came
across the barrel and decided to taste it before discarding it. To
their amazement, the mixture had mellowed into an aromatic, piquant and appetizing
liquid. They hastily purchased the recipe from Lord Sandys and, in
1838, the Anglo-Indian Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce was
launched commercially.

One of the myriad 19th-century pungent English sauces based on
oriental ingredients, it had many imitators sporting pretentious names
such as "British Lion" and "Empress of India".
Its exact recipe remains a secret. All that is known is that it
includes vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, molasses, tamarind, shallots,
anchovies, ginger, chili, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom.

Another history

Worcestershire sauce was named for the town of Worcester, England, which
is in the Shire (county) of Worcester.

In 1835, when Lord Marcus Sandys, governor of Bengal, retired to
Ombersley, England, he longed for his favorite Indian sauce. He
took the recipe to a drugstore on Broad Street in nearby Worcester where
he commissioned the shopkeepers, John Lea and William Perrins, to mix up
a batch. Lea and Perrins made a large batch, hoping to sell the
excess to other customers. The pungent fishy concoction wound up
in the cellar where it sat undisturbed until Lea and Perrins
rediscovered it two years later when house cleaning. Upon tasting
the aged sauce, Lea and Perrin bottled Worcester sauce as a local dip.

When Lea and Perrins' salesmen convinced British passenger ships to
put the sauce on their dining room tables, Worcestershire sauce became
an established steak sauce across Europe and the United States.

To this day, the ingredients in Worcestershire sauce are stirred
together and allowed to sit for two years before being bottled.

According to Lee & Perrins

In 1835, Lord Sandys, a nobleman from the county of Worcestershire,
England, commissioned a pair of chemists - John Lea and William
Perrins - to duplicate a sauce he had acquired during his travels in
India.

Their finished product, however, proved to be anything but
pleasing.
Disappointed, they banished their brew to the cellar.

There, the sauce lay forgotten until the pair stumbled upon it two
years later. Before they discarded their concoction for good, they
took one last taste. Much to their surprise, it had matured like a
fine wine - exhibiting a savory aromatic scent and a wonderfully
unique taste. Lea & Perrins Original Worcestershire Sauce was
born.

It wasn't long before Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce made
its way onto dining cars and passenger ships, and into hotel dining
rooms and restaurants.

About the name

Worcestershire is the name of a county in England. A county in
England is called a "shire", which is the last part of the
name.

So what is "Worcester"? Of course, Worcester is a
city which is located in the county called Worcestershire.

The county is located in the English midlands, south of
Birmingham. Here is a map of England with Worcestershire marked.

Of course, the name of the city is pronounced "worster",
and the county and sauce are pronounced "worster-shire".
That is, ignore the second syllable, "ces".

However, although Worcestershire Sauce owes its name to this midlands
county, its origin is not British but Indian.

Unsuccessful attempts

There have been many unsuccessful attempts to duplicate the taste of Worcestershire
Sauce.

One common recipe is as follows:

6 cloves garlic

1 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/3c soy sauce

1 1/2 c vinegar

Liquefy the ingredients in a blender.

As noted, however, this recipe does not duplicate the flavors of the
real Worcestershire Sauce.

The genuine recipe

According to the Lee
& Perrins website, genuine Worcestershire Sauce must contain the
following ingredients:

vinegar

molasses

sugar

soy

anchovies

tamarind

shallots

garlic

red onion

salt

Since 1838, Lee & Perrins has used this combination of
ingredients, without artificial sweeteners, coloring or
additives.

The preparation process is secret but involves the combination of
some of the ingredients in vinegar, which is then fermented for a period
of time. At the completion of the fermentation stage, the
ingredients are strained, the remaining ingredients are added, and the
complete sauce is aged in wooden casks to attain the proper bouquet and
flavor. Finally, the sauce is strained again, and some of the
solids are retained (which is the reason that the bottle of sauce should
be shaken before use). Note that at no time is the sauce heated in
any way.

The vinegar is malt vinegar and the sugar is palm sugar (available at
Indian markets).

A worthy try

The following recipe produces a Worcestershire Sauce whose taste is very
close to Lee & Perrins. To enhance the complexity, additional
aging should be done.

Place the onion, the garlic, the mustard seeds, the red pepper
flakes, the peppercorns, the ginger, the cinnamon, the cloves and the cardamom
on a large piece of cheesecloth and tie in a little bag.

In a large saucepan, combine the spice bag with the vinegar, the
molasses, the soy sauce and the tamarind. Bring to a boil, lower the
heat and let simmer for 45 minutes.

Mix together the salt, the curry powder, the anchovy and the
water. Add to the liquid in the saucepan. Remove from
heat. Pour the contents of the saucepan (including the spice
bag) into a stainless or glass container. Cover tightly and
place in the refrigerator for two weeks, mixing from time to time and
squeezing the spice bag. After the two weeks, remove the spice
bag and bottle the sauce. Keep in the refrigerator and shake
well before use.

A better one

Joy of Cooking and
to my great surprise, ran across just what you
are looking for! In order to make it, they want
you to make two other sauces first- they are also
good, solid condiment recipes and you may enjoy
them on their own as well but it will be a REAL
labor of love to make your sauce- I will post
the Worcestershire first then the other two:

Simmer these ingredients slowly until very thick, about 3 hours. Stir
frequently to prevent
scorching. Add salt if needed. Put sauce in small sterile jars. Seal and process in a water
bath for 15 minutes. Store in a cool dry place.